Rain
by Mad-like
Summary: A collection of loosely related drabbles that follow the course of season 3, somewhat.
1. Mike Part 1

Mike Chang looked at his watch again. 5:40. It was so late there's no chance she's showing up for this practice. Good, he wouldn't have to face her again. Another twenty minutes and it's on to the next thing on his list. He watches Finn mangle the steps and from the corner of his eye sees a flash of light. Someone was walking into the auditorium. Damn, it was her.

"You're late." Schuester said. Thank you, Captain Obvious. None of the students in the auditorium could possibly be expected to know how to tell time.

She mumbles something about her alarm clock. Talk about an obvious lie. And she looks terrible too, like walking down the aisle to the stage took as much energy as running a marathon. Schuester tells Mike to help her catch up. He takes one step towards her but her eyes flash "Stay away from me!" He stops. She glues her eyes to Finn's feet.

When Finn is done it's her turn. She tries, she fails, she falls. All eyes turn to Schuester to see how he reacts. He's angry and says she's not putting in enough effort, as if he didn't see how much effort what she just did took. Mike offers her his hand and she speaks to him, the first time she's spoken to him since he ignored her text 4 months ago. The text that said 'I'm late'. Only he can hear her say "Don't you ever, ever, touch me again!" and he pulls back his hand, surprised it's still on the end of his arm.

She looks around like she expects help but there's none coming. She manages to scramble awkwardly to her feet and says she's sick. Santana says she's been overeating. She says she's going to throw up. Santana says that's proof. Schuester says she needs to work hard if she's going to be in the club. She looks at each of them again. Her eyes rest on Mike for 3 seconds, 3 centuries. Then she turns and walks out. She never set foot in McKinley High School again.

_They're sitting in the hotel room at Nationals last year. Just him, her and a couple bottles of wine. They're laughing, talking and drinking. His long Asian leg is draped over her short African-American leg. He told her she was beautiful and he loved her. She believed him because nobody ever said that to her before. He told her he wanted to be with her, she believed him because she wanted to believe him. He told her everything would be okay if they had sex. She didn't believe him at all but she did it anyway, maybe he really meant it. Then, as they lay in bed, sweaty and naked, he told her he felt bad about cheating on Tina. She asked why he hadn't said that a half-hour ago. He said this would be their little secret, nobody had to know. She said she knew it would end this way. She wraps herself in a blanket, picks up her clothes from the floor, and walks to the bathroom. She turns and looks at him for 3 seconds, 3 centuries. When she comes out of the bathroom he's gone._

The thing Mike noticed was that the little girl and the man she called daddy didn't match. The girl was dark, with long glossy black hair that fell in a thick braid down her back. When she turned her head Mike saw her eyes were almond shaped but other than the eyes and the hair she looked like a light-skinned black person, like the product of a black person and an Asian person. The dad, on the other hand, was definitely white. He had sandy blonde hair and resembled that homeless kid that used to play football. She was calling him daddy and he was buying her ice-cream.

Mike watched from his park bench as he carried her towards to a picnic blanket spread under a tree. The man didn't mind that ice-cream was dripping on his shirt. The girl called mama and the black woman sitting on the blanket laughed, that musical laugh that was one of the first things he had noticed about her, five years ago. Then she called out the little girl's name. Rain, her name was Rain. The man put her down and she ran to her mother's outstretched arms.

The man sat down on the blanket next to the woman and put his arm around her, she leaned her head against his shoulder, the little girl sat on his lap. Mike moved closer, until he was standing near them. The man and Rain were singing to her, something he'd never heard before.

It was nonsense but they all seemed to like it. The man and woman bumped their heads when they both leaned over to kiss Rain at the same time. Then they laughed like it was hysterically funny and they kissed each other. Mike ducked behind a tree when the man stood up. He held out his hand to help her as she rose gracefully to her feet.

She was pregnant, very pregnant. And happy, very happy.

FF_2947886_ - Page 3 of 3 - Word Count: 713


	2. Mike  Part 2

Both young women were beautiful, a testimony to the beauty of their mother. The younger woman, Jackie, had light brown skin. Her hair was a mass of brown curls, so light it was almost blonde but you can buy hair dye. Her eyes, on the other hand were deep green and those weren't contacts, that was her natural eye color. Her older sister, Rain, was a few shades darker, a few inches taller, and you could see the Asian influence in the shape of her eyes and the glossy black hair. She was wearing her hair exactly the same way she wore it when he saw her years ago, a single braid hanging down her back.

An advantage to being a famous choreographer was the abundance of lackeys. He'd told one of his assistants to get these general admission tickets, and another to stand in line to get these front row center seats. He'd read interviews they'd given but this was their first live appearance on a national show.

Jackie was turning her guitar, Rain was adjusting her microphone stand. The two women were surrounded by a children's chorus. Jackie nodded to Rain and they both smiled at the children.

"Ready?" Rain asked them. The children stopped wriggling and stood up straight.

"Joined today by the Elm Street Children's Chorus, we're proud to introduce, Those Evans Girls." And then Rain's clear voice filled the room.

_Good morning starshine, the earth says hello_  
><em>You twinkle above us<em>  
><em>We twinkle below<em>

_Good morning starshine, you lead us along_  
><em>My love and me as we sing<em>  
><em>Our early morning singing song<em>

The children joined in.

_Gliddy glup gloopy nibby nabby noopy la la la lo lo_  
><em>Sabba sibby sabba nooby abba nabba le le lo lo<em>  
><em>Tooby ooby walla nooby abba nabba<em>  
><em>Early morning singing song<em>

Jackie sang the second verse.

_Good morning starshine_  
><em>so happy to be<em>  
><em>My love and me as we sing<em>  
><em>Our early morning singing song<em>

Then the two women and the children sang.

_Can you hear me?_  
><em>Singing a song, humming a song, singing a song<em>  
><em>Loving a song, laughing a song, singing the song<em>  
><em>Sing the song, song the sing<em>  
><em>Song song song sing sing sing sing song<em>

He'd first heard her singing this song 17 years ago, that day in the park. He didn't recognize it at the time because they had been singing that nonsense verse in the middle. This was their signature piece, Those Evans Girls, and they were on the edge of fame. Strange, these two indie-rock women had a signature song that was 50 years old. The rest of their material was originals they had written, but this song was special to them. The audience full of twenty-somethings applauded wildly. The children left and stage and the women sat down, prepared to be interviewed.

"Congratulations on your new album. I see it's doing well in the charts." the interviewer said.

"Thank you." they said at the same time.

"So tell us something about yourselves."

"Well, we're Navy brats." Rain started. "Our dad, Sam Evans, is in the Navy Medical Corps so we moved around a lot. Our mom, Mercedes Evans, is a photojournalist -"

"A Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist!" Jackie inserted.

"Damned right, a Pulitzer prize winner!" Rain said proudly. "She was just notified last week. Anyway both our mom and dad are great singers. They won a National competition back in high school. That was in Memphis, where we're from._ Good Morning Starshine_ was the first song I ever heard, my dad sang it to me the day I was born."

"Same with me." Jackie added. "We'd sing it at home every morning. Evans family tradition, his mom sang it to him, he sang it to us. If dad was on a tour of duty mom would sing it. If mom had to travel dad would sing it. At least one of them was always home. And when they were both home? You should hear them, they sound so good together!"

"Now, about your father." the interviewer turned his attention to Rain. Both women stiffened noticeable.

"Lieutenant Sam Evans is our father." she emphasized 'our'. "What would you like to know?"

"I mean your real father, the famous choreographer Mike Chang."

Jackie squeezed her hand and Rain sighed. How many times did she have to answer this question? "Mike Chang is my biological father, that's true. My mom lived in Ohio at the time. She left Ohio to live with our Aunt Cecilia in Memphis, and just happened to enroll in the same high school my dad went to. Memphis is where I was born and my dad Sam was there when I was born. He's been there for me every day ever since, which is more important, don't you think? He's my father in every sense of the word. Physically, emotionally, financially. Sam Evans is the only father I'll ever have."

* * *

><p><em>That's pretty much what Mercedes said during their last conversation, 16 years ago. It had taken him a while to track her down. Mercedes Jones is a common enough name. Mercedes Evans isn't that rare either. Once he tracked Sam down to Memphis, TN he'd found her working as a staff photographer at the daily paper.<em>

_"Memphis Sun, Mercedes Evans speaking. How may I help you?" she said in a warm and professional tone._

_"Hi Mercedes. It's Mike. Mike Chang." She waited for him to say something else. He could hear voices in the room, this must be a shared office._

_"And how can I help you?" She finally asked. She sounded cold, but still professional._

_"I want to talk to you, about Rain." She must have caller id because she knew he was calling from the lobby._

_"There's a Starbucks down the street. I'll meet you there in 5 minutes."_

_She was prettier than he remembered, and thinner. Of course she'd been pregnant the last two times he'd seen her. She sat down across from him, putting a folder on the table and her camera on top of it. She ignored his outstretched hand. "So what do you want?"_

_"I want to see my daughter."_

_"You don't have a daughter." Not angrily, but like she was correcting a factual error._

_"I know I do. I saw her. Her name is Rain."_

_"I'm not denying Rain exists. I'm just telling you she's not your daughter except in the sperm donor sense." she noticed he flinched so she added "Sorry to have to put it that way." She slid the folder across the table towards him. "Here's the birth certificate. See, your name is on it. Here's the notification in the Lima paper. You were notified, legally that's all I had to do. Now, this is the notification that your parental rights are being terminated due to abandonment and lack of financial support. I claimed abandonment because you made no effort to find us. You knew where my parents lived, you could have asked them. Anyway, you had ninety days to contest this. Maybe you'd left Lima by then but I was only obligated to publish this in your last known location. Here's the adoption petition when Sam adopted Rain. Here's the amended Birth Certificate. It's legal and water-tight."  
><em>

_Mike looked at the folder, stunned that she'd done all that, just to keep him out of Rain's life. Not that he'd made much effort to be part of Rain's life up to this point. Until that day in the park he considered the whole thing a mistake he'd walked away from. Yes, he had stopped by her house once, after he realized he hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks. Okay, more like two months. He told her mother he was a friend from McKinley. Her mother looked at him as if 'friend' and 'McKinley' didn't belong in the same sentence. She offered to give a message to Mercedes but that was as much information as she was willing to divulge. He declined the offer._

_"It's nothing personal Mike, just like what happened at Nationals wasn't personal." She paused for a few seconds. "Rachel Berry had a biological parent who felt she could drop in and out of Rachel's life when she felt like it. I'm not going to let that happen to Rain. She knows your name. If she wants to find you later she can. If you try to contact her without our permission before she's 18 I'll take out a restraining order. As far as the courts as concerned you're a perfect stranger."_

_"But I'm her father, I'm responsible for her being here." She was right, Nationals hadn't been personal. They both were drunk and Mercedes was available. She could have been any random girl._

_"Van Morrison was singing Moondance. Is he responsible too? _You had nine months to be responsible, you made your decision back then._" She looked out the window at the light drizzle. "Rain. You know why I choose that name? Rain always comes at an inconvenient time but you can't live without it. That's what she's like. It's too bad you're missing that." She stood up. "I have to get back to work."_

And that's what he was, a stranger watching from afar, instead of a loving parent watching from the green room.

* * *

><p>Good Morning Starshine – Hair (musical)<p>

* * *

><p>This really is the end of this story! I don't have anywhere else to go with it.<p>

FF_2947886_ - Page 6 of 6 - Word Count: 1400


	3. Quinn

Quinn hadn't been out of glee club for very long, just long enough to have forgotten how much stupid shit Mr. Schuester puts up with. Santana set a piano on fire and breezed back in, daring him to say something about it. He didn't. Quinn tried to set him up and also breezed back in, no questions asked. Mercedes seemed to be the only person pleased to see her when she came back and now, wait, did Schuester just throw Mercedes out?

Quinn was sitting in the audience, plotting her revenge on Shelby, when all of a sudden Mercedes is sitting on the floor. Well, help a woman up, one of you idiots standing on stage. Men! Did she have to go up there and do this herself? Being a skank had really lowered her opinion of men. Assholes! And the older they get the smarter they ain't.

She wished she could hear what they are saying up on stage. Now Mercedes is grabbing the trashcan like she's gonna hurl and the guys are stepping back like they don't want to get splattered. Quinn looked at her from head to toe. No! It can't be! Now Mercedes is walking out. Where's the closest bathroom?

Quinn quietly lets herself into the bathroom closest to the auditorium. She heard retching from a closed stall. You're not supposed to be able to lock the hall door to the bathroom but how it's done is something she learned from her fellow skanks. You never know when you'll need some privacy to conduct business. Quinn stood near the door and waited.

Mercedes was wiping her mouth as she opened the stall door. She was shocked to see Quinn standing there, like a stalker or something. She ignored the blonde and walked over to the sink.

"Here." Quinn was handing her a wet paper towel.

"Thanks." Mercedes wiped her face.

"Here's a dry one when you're done. And water. Rinse and spit. You'll feel better. How far along are you?"

None of your damned business she wanted to say. "Five months. I just came from the clinic. That's why I was late to practice."

Quinn looked at her again. With her build she could probably hide this the whole time. "Five months? That's around the time of Nationals. Sam?"

Just shut the fuck up she wanted to say. "Yeah." is what came out.

"Tell you parents yet?"

"They'll kill me."

"Hell. You know they won't. They treated me like gold."

"You weren't bringing disgrace on the Jones household." she took a gulp of water and spit it out. "You're a stranger, not the girl who's disappointing them."

"They'll get over it. Anyway, you can come live with me if it comes to that. I'm still guilt-tripping my mom when it suits my purposes." She looked at Mercedes. "What did Sam say?"

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Mercedes ran back to the stall, pretending she was going to throw up again.

"I can stay here all night." Quinn said. Someone tried to open the bathroom door. "Go away!"

"I need to go!" the person on the other side said.

"I don't care. Go somewhere else. Or stand there and shit in your pants. I don't care!"

Mercedes finally gave up and came out, Quinn really wasn't leaving. "Let me guess." Quinn said "Sam doesn't know. Shane's a front."

"No, Shane and I are done. He's not stupid enough to believe in hot tub babies. I found out I was pregnant before we got a chance to-"

"Stop! I don't want that picture in my head. So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." What was she going to do? Time machine, that's the only way out she can see.

"I know. You're calling Sam." she pulled out her cell phone. "Waiting isn't going to make it any easier, take it from a girl that knows." she scrolled through the numbers. "Every night you'll come up with more excuses not to tell him."

"Stop!" Mercedes lunged for the phone. Quinn held it just above the shorter girl's head.

"Listen Mercedes, I'm not being a bitch just for practice. Sam's going to find out anyway. He's not so dumb he can't count to nine. When you have a white baby, you think nobody's going to notice? Sure, they're going to try to pin it on Puck." she frowned. "I mean he does have a track record. But somehow it'll get back to Sam." She held out the phone. "You can call him or I can call him but he's finding out today."

Damn you, Quinn, she thought grabbing the phone. Damn you to hell!

"I'll be right outside the door. I'm guessing you're not climbing out any windows."


	4. Quinn Part 2

"Good afternoon Ms Corcoran."

"Good afternoon, Mercedes." Shelby said, opening her front door. "What brings you this way?"

"A present for Beth. My mom used to read this to me. It's got a princess named Elizabeth." she handed Shelby the book. The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. The cover showed a disheveled princess and a dragon. "It's not what you think." she said noticing Shelby's face. "She's not Disney princessish."

"Thank you, Mercedes. Quinn is here also. She's in the kitchen getting a bottle for Beth."

"I'll go help her." Mercedes said heading for the kitchen. Quinn jumped guilty when the dark-skinned girl walked in the room.

"Oh, Mercedes. I didn't know you were here." she said trying to sound innocent.

"Just got here. What are you doing?" Mercedes asked peering around the blonde.

"Nothing." she screwed the top on the baby bottle.

"Can I see?" Mercedes held out her hand.

"This is none of your business." Quinn said coldly, like a switch had just been flipped, or more accurately like a mask had just been dropped. "Just stay out of it!"

"Stay out of what?" Mercedes noticed the bottle of Tabasco sauce on the counter. "What are you, crazy?" she grabbed the baby bottle from Quinn and poured the contents down the drain. "Why would you do that?"

"I want my baby back!"

"How's this going to get Beth back?"

"I'll turn Shelby in for being a bad mother." She said smugly. "Then they'll give Beth back to me."

"You hate Shelby that much?"

"Look at what Shelby did to Rachel. That was so wrong!"

"Like you care about Rachel! Yeah it was wrong but Shelby didn't try to take Rachel away from her dads. Even Shelby drew the line there."

"I don't care about either of them. I want Beth back!"

"You can't have Beth back! You know that." She looked in Quinn's blazing eyes. "We all read the papers together when you lived at my house. Final. Irrevocable. It doesn't matter that you changed your mind."

"I want Beth back!" Quinn repeated like a broken record.

"Quinn, listen to me. Please just listen to me." Mercedes held her hands. "My mom's a social worker. You know that right? If your plan works they'll take Beth from the only home she's ever known and put her in foster care while they investigate. You want that?" Quinn turned away. "They won't give her to you, they have waiting lists of people who want kids. That's where she'll end up, with some nice stable married couple that's been waiting 5 years to get a baby. Not an unemployed 17 year old high school student. You've got to know that, somewhere in the back of your mind. It's over, done. Take what Shelby's offering if you want to be part of Beth's life. Or walk away if you can't stand seeing her. But please don't do this!"

"But I'm her mother!" Quinn cried.

"You gave birth to her. So what!" There was no nice way to say it. "When you needed a mother who helped you? Finn's mother. Puck's mother. My mother! My mother didn't even know you but she took you in. Where was the woman who gave birth to you all that time? How do you even know your mother would have come back to you if she wasn't lonely because your dad left?" Okay, maybe that was a bit much but she felt she might as well go on. "You're not ready to be a mother right now, think about what's best for Beth."

"Quinn, they offered you help back then." she put her arm around the girl. Quinn shook, at first Mercedes thought she was trying to shake off the embrace, then she realized Quinn was crying, those deep raking sobs she used to do late at night when she thought nobody was around. "Take it. You need to talk to somebody before you do something really stupid that can't be fixed." She helped Quinn stand up and led the girl to her car. "Come on, you're spending the night at my house."

"Goodnight Ms. Corcoran." Mercedes called as they left the condo.

* * *

><p>For some reason the last chapter of Sam and Mercedes' Tardis adventure by Jadziwine made me think of the Paperbag Princess, which actually has very little to do with this story but there you go!<p>

Also, Quinn needs some serious psychiatric help. Don't they have competent therapists in Lima?


	5. Kurt

So evidently Mercedes is not pregnant. Here's another explanation for her behaviour. Starts place right after she left the auditorium.

* * *

><p>Mercedes sat in the rubber sling of a seat and walked backwards as far as she could. She reached the chain link's limit, let go and swung free. She remembered to tuck her feet under her, she was much taller than the average user, but pointed her toes straight forward as soon as they were clear. She swung, higher and higher, her eyes shut tightly, her hair whipping in the breeze. She had earphones on but she wasn't listening to music, she wasn't listening to anything but the blood pounding in her ears, the wind whistling past her face. It was late, dinner time, and the playground was empty. She didn't hear the car pull into the parking lot. She didn't see the tall thin boy walk over to the swings. She just swung, higher and higher. Maybe high enough to fly away from here. The boy sat on the next swing and waited.<p>

"Mercedes." he said after watching her for 10 minutes.

"Yes?"

"Can you please stop for a minute?"

"No."

"Please? I want to talk to you."

She coasted to a stop.

"Where are your friends?"

"Blaine's drove me over. He's waiting in the car."

"And your best friend?"

"I don't know. You want to talk to Rachel?"

"No." she said with a short bitter laugh "I don't want to talk to Rachel. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to ask you how you feel. If your Crohn's is flaring up. If they put you on prednisone again and that's why your weight is fluctuating. If you're going to be okay."

"How'd you guess?" she asked, staring at her feet.

"I didn't, not at first. To tell you the truth I wasn't even paying attention, I was talking to Blaine. You were walking out when I looked over. They said I've known you the longest, had I ever seen you act that way? Then I remembered the last time this happened, how sick you got."

"Crohn's won't kill me." she let the swing drift back and forth. "You didn't tell them, did you? I don't want them to walk around going 'poor sick Mercedes'."

"You'd rather have them think you're a diva bitch?"

"A fat, lazy, diva bitch." she corrected him. "My coach, or should I say my ex-coach, already thinks that. Apparently most of the club agrees with him." she drifted for a few more minutes. "I can't go back, even if he lets me in. I should have skipped the whole thing. I've been feeling like shit ever since he called me out in the middle of class. That's why I was late, trying to work up the nerve to go in and face him. It's not worth it. I actually feel better now." She drifted some more. "I've been thinking of quitting for a long time. I could have been more diplomatic but...it's just not fun anymore. Rachel would be all over me for lack of dedication, but I'm allowed to have fun, to sing just for fun. I'm not risking a hospitalization just to stand behind her and sway. I'm trying to figure out what to do next."

"Did you try praying?"

She stopped and stared at him "Don't patronize me. I know you don't believe in that."

"No, I don't. But I thought you did. If you do, now's the time, don't you think?" He looked up as the streetlights flicked on. "Blaine prays, only he calls it meditation, but it's the same thing, I think."

"Well, if Blaine does it that must make it okay." she mumbled under her breath.

"Huh?"

"I said, I didn't know Blaine was religious."

"More spiritual than religious but yes, he is." He was gazing at the streetlight, looking strangely like an angel as the sodium vapor light lit his pale face. "He tried to teach me how, just empty your mind and listen he said." He looked at Mercedes. "It didn't work. That's hard for me to do, to just sit still and listen. Push everything aside."

"So what do you do? When you're sad and lonely?"

"Rachel and Blaine. Mostly Blaine. I know it sounds sappy but Blaine," he sighed softly "I can call him anytime and he always sounds happy to hear from me. I'm not sure how he does it, a lot of people find me irritating." He chuckled.

"You? Irritating? Naw, not you!" she laughed. "So things are good with you guys?"

"I love him, he loves me. What more could I ask for?"

"And your best friend? Things okay there?"

"We're fine. Her irritating habits balance mine, I guess."

"Oh."

"You don't like Rachel, do you?"

"I can take her or leave her. You like her, she's your best friend after all, so it's only important that you like her."

"That's the third time you've said that. Your best friend. Why?"

"I don't know. Jealous I guess. I don't know." She looked at her watch and jumped up. "I didn't realize it was so late. They'll be worried! Blaine's probably freezing in the car." She started heading towards the parking lot.

"Mercedes!" She stopped and waited for him to catch up. "Can I come over and visit you on Saturday? Just to talk?"

"Sure." He probably didn't mean it, he's just being polite. Whatevs.

**Saturday afternoon**

_One thing I know_  
><em>And I've always known<em>  
><em>I am my own<em>  
><em>Best friend<em>

_Baby's alive_  
><em>But baby's alone<em>  
><em>And baby's her own<em>  
><em>Best friend<em>

_Many's the guy_  
><em>Who told me he cares<em>  
><em>But they were scratchin' my back<em>  
><em>'Cause I was scratchin' theirs<em>

_And trusting to luck_  
><em>That's only for fools<em>  
><em>I play in a game<em>  
><em>Where I make the rules<em>

_And rule number one_  
><em>From here to the end<em>  
><em>Is 'I am my own<br>Best friend'_

_Three musketeers_  
><em>Who never say die<em>  
><em>Are standing here this minute<em>  
><em>Me,<br>Myself  
>And I!<em>

_If life is a school_  
><em>I'll pass every test<em>  
><em>If life is a game<em>  
><em>I'll play it the best<em>  
><em>'Cause I won't give in<em>  
><em>and I'll never bend<em>  
><em>and I am my own<br>best friend!_

"Jesus, Kurt, how long you been standing there?" Mercedes put down the paint roller she was holding and removed her earphones. "How'd you even get in here?"

"Your mom let me in. She called you but I guess you didn't hear. She told me to go on up. You were really into it. Chicago?"

"Shit!" she looked to see if her mother was within earshot. "Could I have been singing something more pathetic? I'm my own best friend. Just pathetic. Where are your friends?"

"It's just me. I came here to visit you. I asked you the other day if it was okay." He sat on the edge of the bed.

"I thought you were just being polite." She pulled on a pair of sweatpants to cover her bare legs. "I mean, what are we supposed to talk about?"

"I don't know. We can start with the color you're painting this room. I don't recognize the color you're painting over. I guess I haven't been here in a long time."

"That? That was from the spring. Sam..." she stopped for a second. "I don't like it anymore. I'm going back to purple, like sunsets. Do you think it's going to be too dark?"

"You and Sam were that serious? That you redecorated and now you're trying to erase him?"

"I guess we had a difference of opinion on what 'serious' means." She sat down next to him. "Anyway, this color was erasing Quinn. I don't like it anymore."

"That's a lot of erasing."

"Yeah, well. Enough about me. How's your application going?"

"Not very well. I'd be shocked to win the class president election, West Side Story didn't work out. I don't know what I'm going to put down on the application."

"Why would a performing arts school even care about class president? Don't you have to audition or something? Don't they want to hear your voice before they decide?"

Kurt looked at her and smiled. "Why didn't I think of that! All this time I've been stressing and you hit the answer just like that!" He hugged her. "That's why I love you!"

"Love's a big word for such a small idea. But thank you anyway."

"Well, you deserve it. What should I sing? Something flashy or something simple?"

"Not too flashy, it gets distracting, but you do want to show off your range. Probably Blaine can help, he's good at that. He was in charge of the Warblers, wasn't he?"

"Technically no, but they liked him a lot and did most of what he asked."

"See, problem solved, simple as that!"

"And you, have you decided what you're going to do without glee?"

"Not so simple. I'll come up with something. You meditate on it and let me know if an idea floats by."

**Sunday morning**

Kurt told her to pray about the problem and ironically enough the answer came to her at church. She was leading the children's service along with Alice McKenna, a guitarist, and Tim DeCastro, Alice's friend who was also a guitarist as well as a singer. Alice played while Mercedes and Tim taught the children songs. Then Mercedes would read bible stories.

She'd been singing with Tim for a couple of years and only today realized how deep his voice was. He had a really nice baritone, almost as nice as Artie's, maybe even a little deeper. Mercedes always thought of Alice, her twin brother Ben and Tim as being "from church" when actually all three go to McKinley. She asked him to stay after the service.

"Tim, did you ever think of joining McKinley's glee club?" she asked as she picked up her sheet music.

"Yes and no. Yes I thought about it, and no I'm not joining."

"Why not?"

"I'm in band and play at your meetings. Waste 'o time." He grinned at Alice.

"Sorry, Mercedes. You've got to admit it's pretty disorganized." She put her guitar back in its case. "Plus, why do you care? Didn't clueless Schue show you the door?"

"I don't know. It was kinda fun at the beginning and they need members."

"And you think if you drag one in they'll take you back?" Tim asked. The thought had crossed her mind.

"You know what?" Alice asked. "Brad's putting together something for diversity day. Gospel. He wants to try a gospel choir but he needs somebody to sing. You two can sing and we can dig up some backup for you. Let's talk to Brad on Monday."

**Thursday afternoon**

"I didn't even know McKinley had a Gospel Choir." Will whispered to Emma who was sitting next to him in the auditorium.

"We didn't. It's new, Mercedes and Brad, the band director, put it together just for this. Doesn't Mercedes sound good? And the boy singing with her, Tim? Last person I would have thought was religious. He's in my office all the time for one thing or another. And two of those girls used to call themselves Skanks, and proud of it. Can you imagine calling yourself a Skank?"

Will wondered how Mercedes had rounded up a half dozen singers so quickly. Will tried for racial diversity, but he'd just lost the only black singer they had. Mercedes had pulled together a diverse group of singers in less than a week. Tim, the co-lead was Asian. Three of the four girls were black and the fourth was white. One boy was black, one was white. And they sounded good, polished. Like they'd done a lot of work in one week. Maybe she was right, she didn't need him.

**A month later**

"So, how were Sectionals?" Mercedes asked over the phone.

"Not good." Kurt answered as the bus bumped along the highway. "Second place. It was almost a photo finish, half point between us. Rachel is demanding a recount." he whispered the last part into the phone. He shifted Blaine's head that was resting on his shoulder. "Everybody is in a bad mood. I think secretly they're mad at Schuester. They're thinking that you could have given us that extra push."

"I'm sorry." Mercedes shooed Alice away from the quiet corner she was in. "But maybe next year."

"That's too late for me but I guess so. I sent off that audition CD. Wish me luck."

"You're gonna kill them. Then I can crash in your dorm room when I visit New York. Which I intend to do all the time since I'll have a place to stay."

"Deal! If I'm there it's because of your bright idea."

"Hey, I gotta go now. Call me when you get home. Love ya!"

"Love you more!" At that Blaine opened his eyes and looked up at Kurt.

"It's Mercedes." he said putting the phone back in his pocket. "She just called to find out how we did."

"Oh, how did she do?"

"Damn, I forgot to ask her." he said, remembering the reason why she didn't watch Sectionals.

"Mercedes!" he said when she answered her phone. "How did you do at the Gospel competition."

"Pretty good." he could hear her smiling over the phone.

"How good? Top 10?"

"Yup!"

"Top 5?"

"Un hum."

"Top 3?"

"You're getting warmer!"

"Two?"

"Warmer!"

"Oh my god! You're kidding!" he squealed.

"I'm shocked myself." she laughed. "We're at Breadsticks celebrating."

"Oh god, I'm so happy for you! Now everybody's asking me what happened. I don't know if they'll be happy or jealous but you so deserve this! What happens next?"

"Well, we're Ohio state champions. The National judges will look at our performance, and we can submit another video, which we probably will, and then 10 teams are invited to Nationals. All expenses paid. That is If we get invited."

"That's so fantastic! You know, maybe I'll give that prayer thing a whirl."

"Meditation. Call it meditation if that suits you better."

* * *

><p>Crohn's disease is chronic but not fatal, aggravated by stress and it flares up and goes into remission. They treat it with prednisone, a steroid which can cause you to gain a lot of weight in a short period of time. Either the actress is wearing a fat suit in Purple Piano of she lost 20 pounds between that episode and Asian F.<p>

Who knows what the writers of Asian F had in mind but here's one explanation.


	6. Sam  Part 1

"I'm not for sale." The words rang in his ears.

Sam Evan's first thought - he wanted to wipe the smirk off that pompous asshole's face, whoever the hell he was. Get suspended on the first day back? So worth it to kick the crap out of this guy wearing a month's rent on his back. Bet he never had to worry about money to buy his little brother a pair of shoes.

His second thought - why is everybody looking like "I can't believe he said that out loud" and not like "what's he talking about?" So everybody in this room knows about White Chocolate. Sam wanted to beat the shit out of Finn Hudson.

His third thought – does Mercedes know? She had this new boyfriend people keep talking about but still, she should hear it from him. He picked up his things and walked out. Of course, he had no idea where she was so he sent her a text. "911. SE" A reply came back almost immediately. "317" He walked to the classroom and heard the TroubleTones practicing inside.

"What's the emergency?" Was she flushed from practice or excited to see him? "I can't stay out long. Sectionals, you know." She smiled, a smile more beautiful than he remembered.

"I need a favor." Do the easy thing first, he thought. 'Course in his life there are so few easy things left. "I'm staying with Finn and that's not working out. I need a place to live. Can you please help me?"

"Okay." He could tell she wanted to ask why but she didn't. "You can use my dad's office. It's private from the house and there's a bathroom. He's cutting back on his practice and never uses it anymore. I'll tell them you're coming. Come around six and everything will be set." She glanced back into the practice room and then at him. "Anything else?"

"No, that's it."

"Are you sure? I have a little time." She looked at him with concern radiating from her deep brown eyes, and gently laid a hand on his arm.

"I'm sure." he said turning away. "Thank you."

"Anytime." she said wearing a sad expression.

* * *

><p>Sam looked around his new home, aka Mercedes' dad's office. It had a separate entrance off the front porch so he had his own key. It was a decent size room, enough room for a pull out sofa and a desk. There was a row of cabinets against the back wall was a kitchenette. The refrigerator was clean but empty. He decided to pick up groceries tomorrow. There was also a full bathroom. This was a nicer setup than Finn's house.<p>

He was surprised by a knock on the door, he hoped it was Mercedes but found himself looking up at the Shane Tinsley, the guy he had heard so much about.

"Mercedes asked me to invite you over for dinner." he said and started walking away without waiting for a reply. "Her folks are out so..."

Five minutes later Shane was sitting at the dining room table, glaring at Sam, a white boy that can't take a hint. Didn't he know he wasn't wanted right here, right now?

"So why are you here, exactly?" Shane asked.

"Here as in Lima," Sam asked "or here as in this house?"

"I have a good idea of why you're in this house, as opposed to Hudson's. Here in Lima is what I meant."

"I came back for New Directions. To sing in Sectionals." Mercedes looked at him and then quickly back to her plate.

"And that's it?"

"Yes." Sam said. So that's that, Mercedes thought.

"I thought you and Mercy were close, back early summer." She looked at Sam and then at Shane, studying him.

"Yes, we were." Sam said. "Very close."

"Then why is it..." Shane picked up a forkful of mashed potatoes, chewed and swallowed, making them wait until he finished. "Why is it you came back specifically to take away one of the few things at that school that makes my baby happy? And you're doing that for Hudson? After all the smack he-" Shane stopped suddenly and smiled at Mercedes. "Sorry, it was just some locker room trash talk. Not worth repeating."

"That's okay, honey." She smiled at him. "Just wanted to know if you wanted desert?"

"You know I do!" He gently stroked her cheek. "Did I smell pie when I came in?"

"Sweet potato. It's actually Sam's grandmother's recipe."

"Oh." He paused, dramatically, significantly. "You made pie together, too?"

Mercedes and Sam both blushed. Shane did not like that reaction at all. It was time to reinforce the point he was making. "So, Evans, you're competing against Mercy at Sectionals, just to make Hudson happy? Guess it doesn't matter much to you if..."

"I'm not competing at Sectionals." Sam interrupted.

"You're not?" Mercedes asked, shocked. "You love to sing!"

"There are some things more important that a singing contest. I don't owe Finn anything, not anymore. He bounced his friendship check. They can draft another band kid. They don't even bother to learn their names, like they're disposable, worthless, nothing. They treat them like a piece of meat." He looked at Mercedes. "I'd rather see somebody I can trust win, somebody who'll help without question and want nothing in return."

"I'll get the pie." Mercedes said standing up abruptly.

"I'll help." Shane and Sam said at the same time. She looked from one boy to the other.

"You're company." she said to Sam. "Thank you. Shane." They left the room, holding hands.


	7. Rory

"Hey, Quinn. Welcome to McKenna's!" Mercedes was surprised to see Quinn walk into the coffeehouse. Quinn was radiant, as usual, and far outclassed the typical customer here, students looking for an inexpensive meal or a caffeine fix or free wi-fi.

"Hi Mercedes, I didn't know you worked here." she said looking around at the mismatched furniture that adorned the place.

"Just on the weekends and when they need extra help. Sit down anywhere. Meeting somebody?"

"Yes" she said excitedly. "I'm on an actual date, my first in so long!"

"Congratulations. Isn't Breadsticks more your typical place?"

"Well, I'm trying to be practical. He doesn't have much money."

"Oh?" Mercedes pictured the boy they both knew who fell into that category, the boy who just walked in. "Sam?"

"Yes, it's Sam! You don't mind do you? I mean, you're dating Shane and all." She wanted Mercedes to know she didn't want to hurt her. Obviously Quinn hadn't gotten the news flash about Shane.

"Naw, it's fine. And he just walked in. Enjoy your date." She said as she turned to walk away.

* * *

><p>Sam was standing at the counter, waiting while Alice McKenna poured a cup of coffee and Mercedes rang up the bill.<p>

"You told me to move on, that's what I did." he whispered.

"Great! You said I was worth fighting for. Stupid of me to believe that." She slid his change across the counter. "You better get back. Your beautiful, blonde, thin date is waiting." She looked past him to wait on the next customer.

* * *

><p>Alice and Mercedes leaned on the bar that served as the front counter of the coffeehouse. Alice had danced for the TroubleTones as a personal favour to her friend Mercedes. She really considered herself a guitarist with the band and therefore preferred not to work with Mr. Schuester in glee club.<p>

"Didn't you just dump Shane for that guy?" the light-skinned brown girl asked nodding toward Sam and Quinn.

"Shane took an early admission to Ohio State and moved. I don't do long distance romance."

"Looks like your close-up romance skills are kinda shaky too." she said with a smile and a hug.

"Well, at least now I know the reason for that blank stare when I told him Shane and I broke up."

* * *

><p><strong>Next practice day<strong>

"Today we officially welcome back our sisters from the Troubletones" Mr. Schuester said. "Welcome back ladies, we missed you! We know all of you, Rory's new here. Brittney and Santana you know." He introduced the girls Rory didn't know. "Sugar." he pointed to a thin blonde girl "and Mercedes" he pointed to a short dark-skinned girl.

"Now, here's what we've been working on." Mr. Schuester arranged the group in two rows, boys facing girls. Mercedes found herself facing Sam, who gave her one of his fake smiles. She switched places with Tina so she was facing Kurt.

"Isn't it great to be back together?" he bubbled. "I missed you so much! This step is simple. I hold your hand, you twirl, then you move down to the next guy. Nothing to it. We have so much catching up to do!" She twirled and moved on the the next person, Sam.

"I really need to talk to you." he whispered.

"Did you get Quinn's permission first?" she snapped back. She took his hand, it was clammy, coincidentally just like his cold, cold, heart. "Gotta go!" she said releasing his hand. She moved on to Puck.

"You are looking delicious today!" he whispered.

She laughed. "No really" he said. "You're like the Queen of Sheba and it's all a matter of fate. Resistance is futile!"

"Damn, you're shameless!" she was still laughing as she released his hand and moved on to Rory.

"I'm really glad you came back to us." He said, at least that's what she thought he said. Man, that's one thick accent!

"Well thank you, Rory. I'm looking forward to working with you." She released his hand and moved on the Blaine. At least that was the plan but Rory was still holding her hand.

"Whoa!" Quinn yelled, right before she collided with Mercedes, knocking both girls to the floor. Rory, who was till holding her hand fell on top of her.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Rory asked as he helped Mercedes up.

"I'm fine! Don't mind me!" Quinn said brushing herself off while looking around for Sam, her current boyfriend. He was just standing there, looking at Rory and Mercedes.

Mercedes looked at Rory, closely looked at him for the first time. Before she'd only noticed how young he appeared. Now she noticed his eyes, nice blue eyes, and his smile, an open honest smile. And she noticed he was singing. Damn, he's singing to her, and waltzing her across the room.

_Ten minutes ago, I saw you  
>I looked up when you came through the door<br>my head started reeling  
>you gave me the feeling<br>the room had no ceiling or floor._

_Ten minutes ago, I met you,  
>and we murmured our how do you dos.<br>I wanted to ring out the bells  
>and fling out my arms<br>and sing out the news._

Oh my god! She knew this song! Her inner six year old girl was squealing with delight.

_I have found her, she's an angel,  
>with the dust of the stars in her eyes.<br>We are dancing, we are flying,  
>and she's taking me back to the skies!<em>

_In the arms of my love, I'm flying,  
>over mountain and meadow and glen.<br>And I like it so well  
>that for all I can tell<br>I may never come down again  
>I may never come down to earth again.<em>

Rory looked at her, expectantly. Damn right she knew the next part!

_Ten minutes ago I met you  
>and we murmured our how do you dos.<br>I wanted to ring out the bells  
>and fling out my arms<br>and to sing out the news._

Rory:_ I have found her._  
>Mercedes:<em> I have found him,<em>

Both:_ In the arms of my love, I'm flying  
>over mountain and meadow and glen.<em>  
><em>And I like it so well<br>that for all I can tell_  
><em>I may never come down again.<em>  
><em>I may never come down to earth again.<em>

He stood there, staring at her. "That song just popped in my head, when I saw you." He said, and she understood every word! "It's from Cinderella, the one with the black girl and the Chinese prince? Do you know it?"

"Filipino, the prince was Filipino. How did you know I love that movie?"

He smiled and finally let go of her hand. "Can I buy you a cup of coffee? That's what you do here, isn't it? When you really like somebody and want to spend time getting to know them? Drink coffee?"

"Yes, that's what we do here." She smiled back. "And I'd love to drink coffee with you."

* * *

><p>Ten Minutes Ago - from Cinderella - Paolo Montalban and Brandy<p> 


	8. Blaine

Note: this is a drabble from somewhere else that's being added to this collection. Takes place around the time they made my girl audition about 100 times for West Side Story.

* * *

><p>Mercedes Jones was irritated. Again? How many time did she have to audition for this damned role? Insanity. Performing the same action and expecting a different result. That's what this is. Did they intend to keep making them compete until Rachel won and then say it was all so so fair?<p>

"Just relax, baby." Shane said, "You can do this. Easy."

"I have to kiss him, you know."

"Just close your eyes and pretend he's me." Shane laughed. "Easy."

"In that case" she said kissing the handsome football player, "Easy."

Blaine sat on the bed, ready to run the scene with the first Maria. Rachel won the coin toss so she went first. Coach Bieste, Emma and Artie watched the scene. Efficient, professional. A little cold and restrained but all in all very nicely done. A Tony and Maria who were tentative, just staring on a new relationship, afraid they'd just made a big mistake but were in love.

"All yours." Rachel said snarkily.

Blaine and Mercedes ran through the scene. Blaine was improvising, not a lot but enough to throw her off a little until she started improvising too. Way to blow an audition to help your boyfriend's best friend she thought. Asshole. The scene ended with a kiss and Tony leaving the bedroom. Blaine was supposed to kiss her, stand up and leave. Only he didn't stand up, he kissed her pulled back a little and kissed her again. What the hell? Okay, I'll stand up and drag him out of here she thought. She stood up. Blaine grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She lost her balance and fell on the bed. He laughed, kissed her again, and laughed again. What could she do, it was kind of funny, so she laughed and shoved him off the bed.

"Awww, Maria. I can't believe you threw me out of bed!" he said from the floor.

"Tony, if you want more of this later" she tapped her hip "you'd better get out of here, now! If we get caught all hell will break loose! I'll see you tomorrow."

Blaine kissed his finger and touched his finger to the tip of her nose. "Good night, my curvy girl, my Maria!"

He climbed out the window on the set and stuck his head back in the window. "Maria! It's tomorrow in China!"

"Well go find a Chinese girl and tell her about it." She laughed and threw a pillow at him.

A sizzling hot Tony and Maria who intended to hit it regularly, who were very much in love.

* * *

><p>Turns out all hell broke loose anyway.<p>

"Blaine, can I speak to you for a minute?" Three voices, three directions. From Rachel standing in the wings, Kurt sitting in the front row, Artie sitting in the shadows in middle of the theater. Mercedes would have gone with, 'what the hell is wrong with you?' so she kept quiet. Blaine bounded out to the center of the stage, he actually looked pleased with himself, and sat down, his feet dangling over the edge.

"I guess you all have the same question so.." He turned around. "Mercedes, Rachel?" The two girls sat down on either side of him.

"What was that?" this time two voices, Kurt and Rachel. Rachel was angry. Kurt was...scared. Terrified. His lower lip quivered and his eyes filled with water. Kurt can't possibly think we're messing around Mercedes thought to herself.

"It's not like that, Kurt." Mercedes said. "Blaine would never do that to you. I'd never do that. This was all about Blaine throwing the audition to Rachel. Blaine loves you. You're all he ever talks about."

Blaine jumped off the stage and knelt down in front of Kurt. "Baby, don't you trust me yet? I love you, I'd still be at Dalton if I didn't love you. Please?" The two boys stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. Then Kurt got down on the floor in front of Blaine, something big for Kurt because the floor was filthy.

"I'm sorry." Kurt said crying. "I guess I just can't believe a guy like you would really love me. I'm sorry." The two boys kissed, and Blaine put more emotion into it than he did with her, Mercedes noticed. He stood up and helped Kurt to his feet. He carefully brushed off the knees of Kurt's pants, helped Kurt to his seat and sat down on the edge of the stage again.

"No, Mercedes, I wasn't trying to throw the audition. Artie?"

"Yes?" Artie called from the shadows of the auditorium.

"I know you're having trouble casting Maria. I just thought, maybe there's two different kinds of Maria. Rachel is the traditional Maria, the sweet ingénue type. I know you guys are having trouble seeing Mercedes as a romantic lead. Sorry Mercedes, but they just can't visualize somebody falling madly in love with you. Artie, I wanted to show you what that would look like, if the physical part of their relationship was as important as the emotional part. Sorry, it was just a theory I had."

"I don't get it." came the voice from the shadows.

"Well, sometimes you see somebody and you know right away it's love. It's like love grabs you by the hand and drags you down the hall." He winked at Kurt. "That's Rachel's Maria. And sometimes love is sitting next to you in class for six months and you never noticed. Then one day, they're dressed differently and even though you've heard them sing a thousand times, it's like you've never seen or heard them before. Love says 'what took you so long?' and you decide you've wasted enough time already. That's Mercedes' Maria."

"Thank you, Blaine." This time it was from Artie and Mercedes. Thank you for clarifying that issue Artie thought. That was the problem and they had to face it and deal with it. Did they want a meek Maria or a self-confident Maria? Was Mercedes' weight a deal-breaker?

Thank you for thinking it was possible, just possible, that someone might find me worthy of love Mercedes though, smiling at Blaine. That was exactly what Sam had said to her at the Night of Neglect Concert.


	9. Sam Part 2

Coming back to Lima had been another in a long line of bad moves by Sam Evans. Due to the walking megaphone known as Finn Hudson everybody calls him White Chocolate now, or they will be calling him that come Monday morning he was sure. Thanks to that same asshole he's forced into close proximity to the nicest girl in the world. A girl who took him in, no questions asked. A girl who provided a roof over his head and food in his refrigerator.

He looked at the groceries she'd just dropped off. Milk (whole and lowfat), cereal (healthy and sugar-packed), juice (grape, apple and orange), yogurt (the fancy Greek kind), instant oatmeal, fruit (apples, bananas, oranges and strawberries), a loaf of bread and a couple of cans of tuna. Who does that, all of that for somebody who, quite frankly, didn't treat her all that well the last time he was in town?

"I meant to get this before you got here" she said handing him the bag "but practice ran late."

"Would you like to come in?"

"Umm, no thanks. I don't think that's such a good idea." She took a step backwards from the doorway. "Goodnight, Sam."

They both remembered the last time they'd been together in her father's old office, back when she was his secret girlfriend. Things had gotten out of control until they were stopped by a broken condom. No, they couldn't take that risk again, especially since she had a respectable boyfriend now.

Sam grabbed an apple and sat down at the desk in the corner. He spread out his schoolwork and tried to figure out how the work here mapped into the work back in Louisville. To hell with that, the work would be here tomorrow he decided. That's when he noticed a repetitive squeaking noise, coming from outside. Looking out the window he saw Mercedes, sitting on the swing hanging from the roof of the glassed in front porch. She was sitting there, like she was waiting for somebody.

"Is Shane coming back?" Sam asked, leaving his door open behind him.

"No, he's probably halfway to Columbus by now. Football workshop, or I should say clinic, down at Ohio State." Sam sat down beside her. "He's going there next year, full ride. It's a great opportunity."

"Are you going there too?" He asked.

"That was my original plan. Now, I don't know. Plans change."

"I saw that video. Football, grammies, cocoa babies. So last June."

She looked at him. "You dumped me, Sam, what was I supposed to do? Cry about it for the rest of my life?" She turned to look down the street. "And what kind of babies would I have besides cocoa babies? Maybe not with Shane but they'll be cocoa."

"I didn't dump you."

"Right, you just left town without saying a word. I guess that's not the same as being dumped. I don't even know if a secret girlfriend can be dumped, technically speaking." She sighed. "Let's not argue. It's over. The fact that you're here proves you could have come back anytime you wanted. You didn't want to. You wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for whatever you're pissed off at Finn about. It's okay. You and Finn will make up and you'll go back. I'll come home one day and you'll be gone. Been there, done that."

"I'm sorry for leaving that way."

"Why didn't you say goodbye?" she was looking at him again. "I thought you knew that much about me, how much leaving without saying goodbye would hurt. Kurt, Quinn, you. I bet Shane will at least say goodbye."

"I was a coward. I knew it would hurt so I didn't do it."

"An honest coward, I'll give you that." A car turned the corner. "Good, they're home. My folks, that's what I'm waiting for." She stood up. "I don't like sleeping in an empty house."

She ran down to the car, opened the passenger door and helped her father out of the car. He was thinner than Sam remembered, and walked slowly. She had one arm around him and was talking about her day. "Good evening Dr. Jones." Sam said. The older man looked at him with tired eyes and smiled.

"Welcome Sam, we're really glad to have you here."

"Sam, can you check and see if my mother needs any help?"

"Yes, I'll do that. Good evening Mrs. Jones." he said opening the driver's side door.

"Hello Sam" she smiled. "I'm so glad you're staying with us. Can you pick up that box please? Thank you. How's the room, not too cold is it?"

"No, it's fine, thank you."

"Did Mercy give you extra blankets?"

"Yes, she did. She's the perfect hostess."

"I'll make sure she knows that. I'd love to talk to you but it's really late and we need to get ready for bed." She took the box from his hands. "Thank you, Sam. Goodnight."

* * *

><p>Sam read the text on his phone. "Breakfast"<p>

"So Sam, do you have plans for today?" Mrs. Jones asked as she scrambled eggs.

"Mom!" Mercedes whined.

"Mercedes! We need to get this done and since Shane's not monopolizing your time this weekend..."

"Sam doesn't want to spend the weekend at Home Depot!"

"Did you ask him?"

"No, I didn't ask him." She snapped. "Who would want to?"

"Well you're going to." She answered firmly. "I just thought you might want company."

Sam coughed loudly because the two women seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"Well, Sam?" they both asked.

"Yes ma'am. I don't mind going to Home Deport. Our house in Louisville was a wreck when we moved in, that's why the rent was so cheap. My dad taught me a lot. What are we building?"

Mrs. Jones beamed at Sam and scowled at Mercedes.

* * *

><p>"See, this is what comes of watching DIY-TV." She slammed the car door as she parked in the store parking lot. "This is going to be like that show, Over Your Head, where they tear the house up and can't put it back together again. We won't have a bathroom for months. Thanks, handy Andy, you didn't have to encourage her."<p>

"Mercy, this is no big deal. You're just replacing a sink. Take out the old cabinet, put in new one, done. Why are they doing this? The old one looked fine."

"She thinks they're getting old. Gotta make this into an old folk's home." she grumbled.

Sam was staring across the street. Broncz. It reminded him that he never got around to telling Mercedes about his stripper job.

"Sam! Let's get this over with. What are you staring at?"

"Well." He noticed a blue and white sign down the street. Habitat for Humanity Restore. He pointed. "Have you ever been there, the Restore?"

"No. What is it?"

"It's a hardware store – dirt cheap. Let's go there first."

"You sure?" She looked sceptical. "Don't you have to be poor or something?"

"No. It's how they raise money. It'll be fun." He took her hand. She looked at him and moved her hand. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that's not allowed."

"I'll keep reminding you." she said getting back into the car.

The Habitat Restore was just what she imagined, the first thing she saw was a hot pink toilet.

"This is crazy, Sam. They threw that away for a reason."

"Somebody's looking for a hot pink toilet to go in their retro bathroom. It's like a treasure hunt." He looked up at the store map. "They've got killer deals in here. What are we looking for?"

* * *

><p>Despite spending the whole day with her shopping and installing bathroom fixtures Sam still hadn't mentioned his stripper job. Instead, here he was sitting in church Sunday morning, listening to Mercedes sing in the choir, and wondering what was going on in the Jones household. They all seem preoccupied, worried about something they weren't discussing out loud. He could ask the people on either side of him, but Dr. and Mrs. Jones would have discussed it with him if they were so inclined. They evidently weren't. The person on the other side, Shane, was the last person he was going to ask for help or advice about anything. He didn't exactly dislike Shane, Sam would be acting the same way if the situation were reversed. But it was impossible for him to like the guy, Shane's standing between him and happiness and Shane's a lot to get past.<p>

"She was singing this song the first time I laid eyes on her." Shane said suddenly.

_Welcome into this place,_  
><em>welcome into this broken vessel.<em>  
><em>You desire to abide<em>  
><em>in the praises of Your people;<em>  
><em>so we lift our hands,<em>  
><em>and we lift our hearts,<em>  
><em>as we offer up this praise unto Your name.<em>

"I knew right away how special she was. I couldn't believe she didn't have a boyfriend, guys here must be blind, deaf and stupid." He looked at Sam. "She told me about you right away. We never expected you to come back."

"I want her back."

"Of course you do, who wouldn't? Gotta get past me first. No so easy."

"She's worth it."

"Yeah, she is." Shane smiled at Sam, like he had a plan for that. He turned away and studied Mercedes, singing in the choir.

* * *

><p>Sam walked slowly past the address written on the paper in his hand. It looked more like a bar than a coffeehouse, but here's where the job is and Mrs. Jones wouldn't lie to him. He pushed the door open.<p>

The inside looked like a bar too, a long wooden counter along one wall, tables along the other. Instead of a mirror a huge painting hung behind the bar. Instead of alcohol coffee cups filled the shelves. Why such a small place, there were only a half dozen tables, needed help surprised him. He walked over to the counter and was greeted by a black girl and a white boy.

"Hey, you're from McKinley, right? What are you drinking?" the boy asked.

"Actually, I'm here to see the manager. Mrs. Jones sent me."

"That would be me." the girl said stepping forward.

"Dream on!" He turned towards the kitchen and yelled "Mom!"

A black woman stepped out from the kitchen. "Ben! You're at work, not home. Act like it."

"Since we live upstairs, technically..." he stopped when he saw the look she gave him. The girl smirked with satisfaction.

"Mother, this is Sam from McKinley." she said formally. "I believe Dr. and Mrs. Jones spoke to you about him? He is here to inquire about employment." Ben made a point of accidentally bumped into Alice on his way to the kitchen.

"Thank you Alice. Nice to meet you Sam." she extended her hand. "I think you already know the twins so I'll introduce you to my husband and he'll let you know what the job entails."

As described by Mr. McKenna, a tall brown-haired white man who resembled Ben, he job entailed running food from the kitchen to the much larger and more crowded back room. He would make nowhere near stripper money but it's a respectable job. Just one more thing he owed the Jones family.

* * *

><p>"Thank you." Sam said as he sat next to Mercedes peeling potatoes for dinner.<p>

"Thank you for what?"

"For everything. For helping me, for feeding me, for being a friend."

"You'd do the same for me."

"You don't need as much as I do."

"Everybody needs something or somebody. It's just not as obvious with some people."

"What do you need?"

She laughed. "I need help setting the table." She threw the potatoes in the pot of boiling water. "Five, we're having company, that is company besides you."

"Shane coming over for dinner?" He'd seen enough of Shane to last him the rest of his life.

"Nope. It's Kurt."

"Just Kurt, not Blaine?"

"Who's Blaine?" Mrs. Jones asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Kurt's boyfriend." Mercedes answered.

"Kurt has a boyfriend? How sweet! He's welcome to bring him over."

"No!" Sam said.

Both women looked at him. Mercedes spoke first. "You don't like Blaine? He seems nice enough."

"No, it's just..." he tried to think of a logical excuse. "it's just probably too late to invite him."

"Okay." Mrs. Jones said "some other time. We haven't seen Kurt in so long anyway." She took the plates Mercedes handed her and left the room.

"Before she gets back," she whispered "why don't you like Blaine? Kurt's going to go on and on about him, that's just what he does. You better prepare yourself."

"We kind of got off on the wrong foot." Now was the perfect time to tell her so he just blurted it out. "Back in Louisville I used to dance in bars, for money. It was fast, easy money. Blaine made a smart-ass comment about it. It's kinda why I left New Directions."

"Doesn't seem like him, he's so quiet most of the time." she picked up the silverware. "So how did Blaine find out?"

"Finn I guess. Rachel saw it too but I'd bet Finn."

"It was Finn. That's how Shane knows."

"So the whole football team knows?"

"Yeah, pretty much everybody knows by now. Most girls think it's pretty hot. You went from homeless Sam to stripper Sam." she shrugged. "I don't know which is worse."

"So you knew the whole time?"

"I knew about the strip joint. I knew you took a swing at Blaine. I didn't know the two were related."

"So why'd you act like you didn't know, about the stripping that is?"

"Bad habit I picked up from Shane. Being an asshole" she checked to see if her mother was around. She wasn't. "Being an asshole even when it's not strictly necessary. It's a hard habit to break." The doorbell rang. "6pm on the dot. Punctual as ever."

Sam watched as the Jones alternated between treating Kurt like the prodigal son, returning home after all these years, and grilling Mercedes on her college plans. They wanted her to go away, she wanted to stay in Lima. Her mother was pushing the University of Pennsylvania, and pushing it hard. Her father was talking up NYU and when Kurt mentioned NYADA he almost started his victory lap.

"You can practically walk from NYU to NYADA. Right around the corner!"

"That's nice." Mercedes said, staring at her plate.

"It would be so much fun!" Kurt chimed in. "The two of us together in New York."

"Philadelphia is a beautiful city, you know. And the train station is only two blocks from campus." Mrs. Jones made her last argument. "You'd be in Manhattan in two hours. Nice relaxing trip. Remember how many times one of us made that trip, Anthony?"

"I'm staying in Lima." she insisted.

"Well, there's always Ohio State down in Columbus. Shane will be there and..."

"Shane's irrelevant to this discussion." She picked up a forkful of salad as four pairs of eyes bored into her.

"And why is that?" her mother asked finally.

"We broke up."

When Kurt and Mercedes had been close, they were very close. Close enough they communicated without words. Kurt sent her a look that said "It's about damn time." She sent back a look that said "Don't even start with me." With Sam it was much more apparent.

"What?" he said, his jaw dropping. "When did that happen?"

"Friday night. He's going off to Ohio State and I didn't want a long distance romance."

"It's only a couple of months you'd be apart." her mother said.

"I thought he was leaving next year." Sam added.

"January. He's going early."

"So why was he acting like you two were still together this morning in church?"

"That's just how he is, I told you that. He's going to study law and he likes to keep people guessing, least that what he calls it. It's kinda irritating, actually." She looked up in triumph. "And so, mother, there's no reason for me to leave Lima."

* * *

><p>Welcome into this place – Gary Oliver<p>

Okay, there's one last part to this coming up!


	10. Sam Part 3

**Right after dinner on Sunday night**

"It seems like I spend all my time apologizing for what my loved ones have said." Kurt said sitting cross-legged on Sam's bed. "Today I'm apologizing for Finn, for telling everybody about your job down in Kentucky. And for what Blaine said. That was inexcusable and it may have been partially my fault, I'm the one that told him. Finn hadn't gotten around to it yet."

"Heck, I thought you came over to visit with me." Mercedes said, casually flipping though a magazine.

"That too. And to put in a bid for NYU while I'm here. I applied there."

"You did? I thought it was NYADA or nothing."

"You're confusing me with Rachel. NYU has a great theatre program. That's what I planned to do before I ever heard of NYADA. I mean, if the school's only letting in 20 people what are my odds of getting in?"

"What the heck is NYADA?" Sam asked, irritated. None of his visions of Mercedes laying in his bed had involved the presence of Kurt Hummel, yet there she was, laying on the bed, shooting the breeze with Kurt. And he was pretty sure she was leaving the minute Kurt did.

"It's a theatre school in New York. Rachel and I both applied. It's hard to get into, hence plan B."

"So what about Blaine?" Mercedes asked.

"What about him?" Kurt answered. "Why was he so rude?"

"No. Well that too, but how's it going to work when you go to New York?"

"We haven't discussed it. One of many things we haven't discussed."

Mercedes gave him her 'we'll have to talk about that later' look. "See," she said "Shane and I talked about it for weeks, ever since he got the offer to go to college early. It didn't seem like such a terrible thing to take some time off, see how we feel after a year or so."

"Wasn't it a painful conversation to have? Suppose he acted like he couldn't wait to get rid of you?"

"Well, if that was the case I'd rather find out sooner than later." She said. "We said goodbye. And Shane goes to my church so I'll still see him occasionally, when he's in town. It's not messy this way."

"Yes, but..." Kurt started.

"Excuse me." Sam interrupted. "I've got homework to do."

"Sorry!" they said together, both jumping off the bed. Then they giggled like they were in kindergarten. Sam sighed and showed them out the door.

* * *

><p>"Blaine's what I wanted to talk to you about." Kurt said getting comfortable on Mercedes' bed. "The class president thing, it was prom queen all over again and the first thing I thought was, I need to talk to Blaine. But Blaine, he's upset about something and I don't know what's wrong. He won't say. He jumped all over Sam but he was mad before Sam got back. He insulted Sam over a dance move. A dance move! What he said and how he said it? It was horrible!"<p>

"Like Blaine never busted a stripper move."

"Mercedes!"

"Just saying." She handed Kurt a cup of hot chocolate. "If times got tough he could make a buck or two that way, that's all."

"Anyway, after insulting Sam he just walked out and disappeared, like he forgot I was there. Like he didn't need me. I don't know, if this is how it is while we're both in Lima, there's no way we're going to survive long distance."

"Maybe it's just the way he was raised. What are his parents like?"

"Never met them." he sipped from the cup.

"All this time and you've never met them?" she sat on the bed next to Kurt. "Why not? Do they know about you?"

"They know I exist, I guess. He said they know he's gay. He says the timing's not right."

"Well, maybe there's something going on in his house right now and the timing really is bad."

"I feel.." he thought for a moment. "I feel like I shouldn't have to beg him for information. If he's got family problems he should feel comfortable talking to me about it. He should want to tell me things, I tell him everything. Isn't that the point of being in a relationship?"

"Like I said, it's probably the way he was raised. You, you were raised by gentle people. I mean you're not afraid to ask if you need help with something, there's no shame in that but not everybody is like that. Shane, he always had to be in control. Asking for help was admitting defeat. It's suffocating, being in a relationship like that. My friend Alice, she bickers with her brother Ben constantly but they love each other, you can tell. They know when to stop. At Santana's house, they say cruel things and they mean it. They can't help themselves. Crying is a sign of weakness. Santana's another one that can't ask for or accept help and it's because of how she was raised. Maybe that's how it is at Blaine's house."

"Your parents are nice and you don't ask for much."

"I don't?" she laughed. "You must be forgetting how I left New Directions."

"Schuester should have done something before it got that bad. You weren't asking for much, just to be heard." he put his arm around her. "I miss you so much. Even Santana, I miss her a little."

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday after school<strong>

Shelby looked at the blond haired boy standing in front of her.

"Sam, I'm glad you're interested in joining but it's too late to change our Sectionals performance."

"I understand, Ms. Cocoran." Sam remembered from his previous job that women in Shelby's age bracket don't like to be called ma'am. It makes them feel old. "I'd like to join after Sectionals, which I'm sure you'll be winning." He smiled sincerely.

"Okay, ladies. Take five." None of the dancers left, all hoping to see stripper Sam in action. He picked up his guitar and started singing.

_I keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore_  
><em>I keep forgettin' things will never be the same again<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin' how you made that so clear<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin' darlin'<br>_

_Every time you're near_  
><em>Every time I see you smile<em>  
><em>Hear your "hello"<em>  
><em>Saying you can only stay a while<em>

_Hey, I know that it's hard for you_  
><em>To say the things that we both know are true<em>  
><em>But tell me how come I<em>

_Keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore_  
><em>I keep forgettin' things will never be the same again<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin' how you made that so clear<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin'<em>

_Every time I hear_  
><em>How you never want to live a lie<em>  
><em>How it's gone to far<em>  
><em>And you don't have to tell me why<em>

_Why you're gone and why the game is through_  
><em>If this is what's real, if this is what's true<em>  
><em>Tell me how come I<em>

_Keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore_  
><em>I keep forgettin' things will never be the same again<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin' how you made that so clear<em>  
><em>I keep forgettin'<em>

_Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that_  
><em>I know you're not mine anymore-anyway-anytime<em>  
><em>But tell me how come I<em>

_I keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore_  
><em>I keep forgettin' things will never be the same again<em>

He looked at Mercedes, who happened to be whispering to Santana at that instant. He frowned for a second and then smiled at Shelby.

"Thank you, Sam." Shelby made notes in her binder. "See you after Sectionals. Ladies, Back to work!"

* * *

><p><strong>Later that night<strong>

Mercedes dumped her books on the sofa, late for dinner again. Her mother would understand that practice ran late, Sectionals is in three days. Besides her mother must have started without her, guessing from the smells coming from the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm late! Practice..." she was surprised to see Sam puling a chicken from the oven. "Where's my mom?"

"She left a note." he said, pointing to the kitchen table.

_Mercy, went to Columbus to see Dr. Patterson. We'll be home late._

"Excuse me." she said, leaving the room and taking the note and her cell phone with her.

"Everything okay?" he asked when she came back.

"Fine. Every thing's fine." She said in that preoccupied way everybody in the Jones family had.

"Okay." He didn't press. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Did you always cook?" she asked watching him toss a salad.

"Not always. I had a job in a restaurant once."

"A cook?"

"No, a dishwasher to a lazy cook. He taught me so he wouldn't have to do it. You don't have to set the table," he said with a shy smile. "I thought we'd eat in the dining room."

He led her into the dining room. The table was set with the good china, crystal and candles. And flowers! The kind made out of tissue paper but flowers all right. She stood in the door for a minute, just staring at the table. "Excuse me." she said leaving him alone again.

He started putting salad on the plates while he waited. It took her a while so he lit the candles and sat down again. She was wearing a dress when she came back. Not a fancy dress but a dress, and lipstick.

"You look really nice." he said, pulling out a chair for her.

"I figured you went to all this trouble, least I could do is put on a dress." she said smiling at him.

"It's not a lot of trouble. I used to make flowers for Stacey all the time, they don't cost much and they last forever. She liked that a lot. And cooking, both my parents worked late so I did a lot of cooking at home, and at work. And I had to set the table anyway."

"Well thank you. That was very sweet of you." she pushed her salad around her plate. "Remember when you sang for Shelby, and you said things will never be the same again?"

"Yes. I didn't know if you were paying attention, you didn't respond at all."

"No, I was thinking. I thought, they won't be the same because things weren't really right before. And it was just as much my fault as yours. If I had trusted you more I would have known I didn't have to keep you secret to keep other girls away from you. If I had felt better about myself I wouldn't have thought, even though you never said it, that you didn't want to be seen with me."

"Mercedes, I never felt..."

"I know." she interrupted. "I know you didn't. That's not what I was getting at. When you left, I thought I wanted the exact opposite of you, and that's what Shane was. Opposite in almost every way possible. But that didn't work either because I was part of the problem. We're different people now. Both of us are completely different. Maybe things can be good this time." She smiled at him. "If we tried again, can you promise me one thing, and one thing only?"

"Yes." he said holding her hand. "I promise!"

"Never leave me like that again. No matter what, don't just leave like that. If forever turns out to be only three weeks, tell me before you leave."

* * *

><p><strong>Friday night - Sectionals!<strong>

Sam sat in the auditorium next to Rachel.

"Isn't it odd, watching from the audience?" she asked.

"Yeah, we should be up there."

"And there should only be one team. It was such a screw-up, the whole thing. There's just so much talent in the group, it's like we exploded all over each other. And add college applications on top of everything. And Shane, what an ass he was!"

Sam let the Shane comment pass. He'd been good to Mercy, even if he was an ass in every other sense.

"I'd hate to have to judge this." he said, jumping to his feet despite himself. He was team Mercedes, 200%, but damn it – Kurt and Tina were burning down the house! He always thought Tina had a diva hidden deep inside and tonight she let her loose.

Rachel had done the same thing when the TroubleTones broke out that Tango move. She jumped up and started woo-hooing before she remembered to look around and make sure Finn wasn't watching.

"Really, it's like Garland vs. Streisand." she said.

"Or Fitzgerald vs. Washington." Rachel looked over at him, throwing around references to Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington was he?

The clown of a judge, literally a clown with a red nose and everything, came out on the stage. "Third place – the Unitards!"

"First place." he fumbled with the paperwork. "It's a tie!" The audience groaned. A woman in a business suit ran up on stage and whispered in his ear.

"Well," he said in an arrogant tone, "it seems like ties are no longer allowed at these competitions." He reached behind Sugar's ear and pulled out a quarter. "Call it!"

"Heads!" she said, giggling.

The coin flashed in the stage lights as it flipped end over end, arching up to the ceiling and back down again. Every eye in the auditorium followed it.

"The winner is...New Directions!"

* * *

><p>"If we had to lose..." Santana said, waiting patiently while Britt removed her stage makeup.<p>

"I'm glad we lost to Kurt and Tina." Mercedes finished.

"I was going to say at least it was a random coin toss. Losing to Berry, ugh! That would have been hard to take."

"Never would have heard the end of that!" Mercedes agreed.

"She's gotta be in a snit, seeing how well they did without her."

"How well they did without all of us. Excellent job, ladies." Rachel said entering the dressing room. "Sam sent me in to get you. He said get it in gear, the party's still on."

"You wanna come?" Britt asked. "Karaoke!"

"New Directions probably has something planned." Rachel answered.

"Karaoke." Santana whispered in her ear, linking arms. "Karaoke!" Mercedes said doing the same with her other side. "Come on girl! You know you want to."

* * *

><p>Finn, Blaine and the rest of New Directions were in their dressing room, passing around high-fives. There were victory dances and much stroking of trophies.<p>

Tina, Quinn and Kurt sat on the sidelines, watching in disgust.

"It was a coin toss!" Quinn said, "You'd think we annihilated them."

"It was too close." Kurt agreed. "I can't see us getting much farther without them."

"At least Blaine and Finn are getting along." Tina pointed out. Yes, Kurt observed, Blaine and Finn are getting along just great lately.

"I'm going home." Kurt said standing up, wondering how long it would take Blaine to notice he left. "Either of you need a ride?"

"I'm riding with Mike." Tina said.

"No, I'm good." Quinn said. "Wait a minute. Do you hear singing?"

_Don't blame it on sunshine_  
><em>Don't blame it on moonlight<em>  
><em>Don't blame it on good times<em>  
><em>Blame it on the boogie<em>

"They sound happy enough." Kurt said sticking his head out the door, "Delirious to tell you the truth."

_I just can't  
>I just can't<br>I just can't control my feet  
><em>I just can't<br>I just can't  
>I just can't control my feet<em>_

_Owww - sunshine_  
><em>Whoo - moonlight<em>  
><em>Yeah - good times<em>  
><em>Mmmm – boogie<em>

_Ohh blame it on yourself - sunshine_  
><em>Ain't nobody's fault - moonlight<em>  
><em>But yours and that boogie - goodtimes<em>  
><em>On all night long - boogie<em>

"Oh my god, you're so unicorn!" Britt said, pulling Kurt into her arms and spinning him around.

"Karaoke!" Rachel said pulling Quinn to her feet.

Quinn hugged her. "Karaoke!"

"Karaoke!" Tina, Santana and Mercedes yelled. They all ran out the door. The rest of New Directions followed.

* * *

><p>I Keep Forgettin' - Michael McDonald<p>

Blame It On The Boogie – Jackson Five


	11. Shane

Mercedes quietly slipped out of the pool. Everybody was crowded around the other end of the pool, waiting to hear Emma's response to Will's proposal. Mercedes didn't give a shit about that anyway, she needed to get out of here quickly. She roughly toweled her hair dry and pulled on a sweatsuit over her still wet bathing suit. She heard the kids in the pool cheering. Well the answer must have been yes. She slipped out of the dressing room and headed for the exit.

"Hey! Mercedes." Damn, it was Sam. "You missed the actual proposal."

"Oh, I did? What did she say?"

"Yes. It was kinda romantic."

"Great. Gotta go."

"Wait, aren't you going to Breadsticks with us?"

"Breadsticks?"

"Yes, he invited us, remember?" He smiled at her. "They're having live music tonight. You said you'd dance with me."

"I'm sorry. I can't. Family thing."

"And you can't miss it?"

"No, I can't miss it." she looked down, the way she always does when she's lying.

"Are you okay?" he lifted her chin with his hand. She shook his hand away, something she had never done before.

"Wet." she mumbled. "Your hand is wet."

"Okay. I'm going with you."

"What? Like that? Don't you have something to do? Something involving skinny girls and swimming pools?"

"What?"

"Go change." she said roughly. "You're soaking wet. If you want to come with me put some clothes on. I'll wait."

"No. I know you well enough to know you'll be out the door five seconds after I leave. I'll go like this."

"Fine!"

* * *

><p>Sam sat in Mercedes' rapidly cooling car. This was ridiculous. She hadn't said a word the whole time, except when she offered to drop him off in front of Kurt's house and he declined the offer. Then she drove to her house, got out of the car, slammed the door behind her, and walked away without saying a word. He could bang on the door and demand to see her. He could walk to Kurt's house in the cold rain wearing a bathing suit. He could...<p>

He was startled by a knock on the car window.

"Hey, Ken! What's up?" It was Shane, of all people.

"My name's not Ken and you know it."

"Okay not-Ken. What are you doing, trying to steal a car? Try the driver side next time." He looked at Sam. "And clothes, that's something you'll want to add to your list." He laughed and started to walk away. Then he came back. "You know, when she was my woman she never got mad enough to make me sit in a freezing cold car, naked yet. Well, that's the difference between not-Ken and Shane." The way he was laughing was really getting on Sam's nerves.

"The Joneses invited me over for dinner. I'm sure they'll take pity on you and let you in. Mrs. Jones will at least. Come on in." He handed Sam his jacket. "If Mercy gives you lip I've got your back."

* * *

><p>"Sam!" Mrs. Jones said, "you walked here from school dressed like that?"<p>

"No ma'm. Mercy gave me a ride."

"And you've been sitting in the car since she got home? Mercy!"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I offered to drop him off at home. His own home. Not my fault that he's hard-headed."

"Mercy, go get him something to wear."

"Mom!" she whined.

"Mercedes!"

Mercedes recognized that tone of voice, sighed loudly, and left the room.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. I don't know what came over her. Shane, so nice to see you again. Boys, have a seat while I get another set of dishes."

Mercedes took a long time coming back with clothes. She returned with a tshirt emblazoned with a cartoon character saying 'It's a black thing, you wouldn't understand.' Her mother sighed and left the room.

"What gives you the right to barge in here?" she hissed at him.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

"All of a sudden, you say?" Shane put in his two cents.

"Just shut up Shane." they both said.

"Just trying to help." He helped himself to salad.

Mrs. Jones returned with sweats from Hampton University. "Try these on Sam, it's warmer than a tshirt."

"Thank you ma'm." He left the table to change in the powder room. When he came back Shane was talking about Ohio State. Football, food, dorm life.

"Yes, ma'm, I'm really glad I took the early admission. Of course I miss everybody back home, including Mercedes. That's why I'm so pleased to see her happy with Sam." God, he's an ass Mercedes thought. What's with my taste in men? "What I'm interested in, why was Sam's riding around in just s bathing suit. Any particular reason?"

Mercedes stared at her plate. When he realized she wasn't going to answer Sam spoke up. "Mr. Schuester proposed to Ms. Pillsbury. He asked us for ideas and I suggested synchronized swimming." Sam warmed up to his description of the proposal, not noticing how quiet everyone else was.

"In a pool?" Mrs. Jones asked softly.

"Of course a pool. He suggested a freaking pool!" Mercedes threw down her fork and left the room.

"Excuse me." Mrs. Jones said following Mercedes from the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sam asked.

"A pool?" he asked shaking his head. "A pool? Let me ask you something, have you ever seen her in shorts?"

Sam searched his memory. She's worn dresses as part of a performance, she wore jeans when they went out last summer. "No, I've never seen her in shorts."

"And why might that be?"

"I don't know."

"When you left town they threw you a pool party. Was my girl there?"

"No." he distinctly remembers she wasn't there. "Some family conflict." Like tonight was supposedly a huge family conflict. "And she's not your girl."

"Hmmmm."

"Don't just sit there going hmmmmm. What's the problem?"

"I think Mercedes is beautiful in each and every way. Except for her insane fascination with you, she's perfect. She thinks she's fat and synchronized swimming is probably the single worst thing in the world you could have chosen."

Mercedes and her mother returned to the dining room.

"Sorry." Mercedes mumbled.

"I'm sorry about the pool." Sam said. Mercedes shot Shane a dirty look. "I didn't think..."

"Why would you? Not your problem. Mother, may I please be excused? Shane can give Sam a ride home." she stood up. "Thank you Shane for visiting us. I'm sure my dad will be heartbroken that he missed you. Will you still be in town for church on Sunday?"

"Yes, let me help you with the dishes." They picked up plates and walked to the kitchen.

Sam found himself sitting awkwardly with Mrs. Jones. "I'm sorry Sam, Mercedes doesn't like swimming and pools. They make her uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry ma'am." He picked up both their dishes and headed to the kitchen.

"He didn't know." he stopped and listened to Shane talking. "Sam didn't mean anything by it."

"Probably not."

"If he knew, if you told him, he'd understand. You know I think you can do, heck have in the recent past, done better" he laughed a little "But Sam's not totally stupid."

"Probably not." she repeated.

"Mercy! Don't shut down on me. I hate that."

"What do you want from me?" Sam heard something slam against a table.

"I want you to be honest. Okay, you don't do long distance romance. You keep saying that, I have no choice but to believe it. But honestly, would you have come to the same conclusion if Sam hadn't suddenly reappeared?"

"Shane, let's not..."

"I'm not." he interrupted. "You made your decision. We're done. We're friends." he said with a hint of bitterness. "But as your friend, you're screwing this up big time."

"A pool?"

"Did you ever think, maybe he just wanted to see you in something skimpy?" Sam heard her laugh sharply in reply. "Maybe he really likes curvy girls and this was the only way he could think of to see a little skin. He's not seeing any skin is he?"

"Shane!" she was giggling now.

"I'm going to take that as no. Don't make me have to hurt him, not that I wouldn't enjoy that."

"Sam, why are you standing there?" It was Mrs. Jones standing behind him.

"Ummmmm," Sam thought fast. "Confused. I haven't been here for awhile."

"Oh, it's that way." she pointed out the way to the kitchen.

"Hey, Ken! You need a ride home?"

"I need to talk to Mercedes."

"Why don't you ride home with Shane?" She said. "We can talk tomorrow. I promise, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"Hey Sam."<p>

"Hey Mercedes."

"Sit down, I want to show you something." Sam sat down next to her in the library. She opened the laptop in front of her and handed him a pair of headphones. It was a pep rally or something. The Cheerios performed a routine and then Mercedes walked out. She just stood there and sang a song "We are beautiful, no matter what they say. Words can't bring us down." when the clip ended he played it again, fast forwarding to the part where she started singing. Then he watched it for a third time.

"Can I have a copy of this? You're so awesome."

"Sam, you're missing the point!"

"What's the point? How beautiful you are?"

She sighed and took the headphones. "That was the day I got thrown off the Cheerios." He didn't even know she was a Cheerio. "You know why?"

"No, why?"

"See what I'm wearing? Sweats. I couldn't wear the uniform like the other girls. Only boys wear sweats. Boys and me." She closed the laptop. "That's why I hate pools. I only went yesterday because I was afraid Schuester would throw me out again if I didn't."

"Well, you could..."

"I tried. I really tried. I managed to get sick but I can't loose the weight."

"I can try to help you. And if you can't loose it you can't loose it. I don't care."

"That's sweet but..."

"But I love you. You, not your size."

"But you dated Santana. And Quinn! They're beautiful."

"They're two of the meanest girls in this school. You're beautiful and I won't mind telling you that every single day for the rest of our lives."


End file.
